To Gaze upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice

by Samuel G. Parkison

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Christianity, Religion

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Samuel G. Parkison (PhD) is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at the Gulf Theological Seminary in the UAE. He is also the Director of Publishing at Credo Magazine. He is the author of several books, including To Gaze Upon God (IVP Academic, 2024) and The Unvarnished Jesus (Christian Focus, 2025).

Reviews

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of the year so far. Hands down.

I’m planning to write a review for Books at a Glance, so I’ll be brief here.

I absolutely loved and devoured this book. I hope you will get it and read it. I think it will kindle a fire in your soul and cause your heart to sing.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. I loved this book. In true Edwardsean fashion, Parkison writes with intellectual rigor and affective prose. This isn’t just a work of theological retrieval (although it is that) but a soul-stirring call to behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. I appreciate Parkinson’s aim to situate the beatific vision in biblical and historical context as well his ability to show the natural implications for Christian life and ministry. I found my soul yearning for more of the Lord as a result of reading this work. Can a reader ask for anything more?

[Jennifer Squire]

I gleaned the most from the beginning and ending chapters! The middle chapters were more challenging for me personally, but that has more to do with my experience reading books of this caliber. I’m glad to have read it and have it as a reference as I continue to allow the beatific vision to shape my thought and everyday life.

[Samuel Parkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the similarity of our names, I am not the author of this book; he's a Baptist teaching in Abu Dhabi, I'm a Presbyterian ministering in Scotland. But I wish I was the author...

We've needed this book for a while. The return of interest in the beatific vision has been going on for a while; Michael Allen's excellent Grounded in Heaven was a strong argument for reemphasising the doctrine. We are made to gaze upon the face of God, to be filled with joyful wondering worship as we look upon him. And yet we've needed a more fundamental book looking simply at the doctrine from scriptural, historical, and practical angles.

This book does that. It gives a good, simple, solid introduction to the scriptural basis of the doctrine. The historical and theological sections are more weighty, and wrestle with some of the more significant issues that arise as we think about the vision. Some readers (judging by reviews) find parts of this sectionhard going, but it's worth persevering through. Even if you have to skip some of the more involved bits, the rest of the book is still thoroughly worthwhile.

The book makes an excellent case that this doctrine should be restored to the front and centre of our understanding of eschatology; that it is scriptural, and that it is core to the theological great tradition. And by wrestling through the views of different theologians, the difficult questions they raise, it deepens our understanding of what the vision will be.

The practical section is very short, but full of concentrated, heart-enriching insights into what this doctrine means for life and worship. I wish it was a bit longer - and perhaps that some of these insights had been woven into earlier sections of the book - but that's not to diminish the goodness of what it does.

It's not a perfect book - the interaction with the medievals does emphasise Thomas to the occasional neglect of others, though it's much better here that most comparable books. It would be good if more of the thrill of the first and final chapters were present in more of the book.

And (to indulge my own personal hobby-horse) there are vast riches of thought about the vision locked up in commentaries on the Song of Songs that aren't really tapped here. Modern neglect of the doctrine must indeed owe something to changed views of the Song of Songs, an issue that isn't covered... but that's my personal bugbear.

Pastors and preachers should read this book: there is such a need for us to paint the glory it will be to be with Christ. Good as much neo-Calvinist emphasis on the physicality of heaven has been, real delight in the true splendour of meeting him face-to-face is lacking in much modern preaching and writing. This book reminds us of the joy and glory that awaits us. I hope and pray that, though this book, many will discover a deep longing to gaze upon God in Christ together with all the saints.

[j.j. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This book is a gift to the church. Having been only slightly familiar with the beatific vision before reading this volume, It was clear that Sam’s aim in writing this was not only to give the reader a full scope of this doctrine from Scripture and church history but to bring the reader to a place of worship and longing for the blessed vision of God. I can say I am putting this book down with a deeper understanding of what it is and even more importantly, a richer, more full love of the Triune God. I will surely turn to this book for years to come for reference and for pointing others for a clear and helpful work on the beatific vision.
The only reason this isn’t a 5-star for me is because the book is a bit more academic, but that’s more a reflection on my own ignorance, not Sam’s writing or clarity.

[Suzanne McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delighted to see a book like this! May it bring many especially Reformed and evangelical Christians to know and rejoice in the doctrine of the beatific vision, to see its centrality as the telos of the Christian life, and therefore to recognize its transformative role for our lives now as we anticipate by faith the fullness of what we will experience by sight in glory. Parkison gives an overview of the scriptural foundations of the beatific vision, a sense of its historical trajectory and draws out its implications for corporate and individual Christian life now (with helpful navigation through some of the tangled thickets of recent academic arguments on the subject along the way :) !). My only issue is that Parkison has unduly homogenized the history of the doctrine into a single, essentially Thomist, trajectory. For a corrective, see the superb volume by Steven Tyra ('Neither the Spirit Without the Flesh') setting out an equally deep-rooted, largely Irenaean *alternative* approach to the doctrine. It is this stream of thought that is taken up by Calvin (and Owen) *rather than* the dominant Thomist trajectory, a contrast that was recognized and strongly contested by more Thomistically inclined Reformed theologians as well as by Roman Catholic opponents.

[Jack Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book, and it’s a pretty comprehensive introduction to this doctrine. I especially appreciated the way the author put Aquinas and John Owen in conversation with each other at different points. Overall this was a great read.

[Connor Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Although it would be anachronistic to do so, it could be entitled, “Retrieving Classical Christian Hedonism.” Parkison’s exposition of the beatific vision methodically and systematically shows that the heart of Christian Hedonism—“God’s utter delightfulness and all satisfying glory as the end of every human soul”—is actually a common contemplation of great tradition thinkers like Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Owen, and Edwards.

The author writes with rare warmth, exegetes biblical texts with precision, elucidates complicated theological distinctions with clarity, and treats his conversation partners with fairness. I love that he writes as a happy Baptist who unashamedly engages with the full riches of church history. Because of the book’s historical consciousness and rootedness, it has a breadth and a depth that surpasses anything I’ve seen in the Christian Hedonism project. (I write that as someone who was exposed to Piper’s “The Pleasures of God” shortly after my conversion 12 years ago, was swept into the Young Restless and Reformed movement, and spent 4 years studying at Bethlehem College & Seminary under Piper.) There are also distinctions in the beatific vision conversation, historically considered, that I think augment and nuance some of the rough edges of Christian Hedonism that leave people struggling. Although I enjoyed the whole book, I especially appreciated Chapter 6 on the relevance of the beatific vision for the Christian life. He pulled the strands together in a uniquely edifying manner.

On the whole, Parkison’s prayer for this work (p. 181) was answered in my reading. I worshipped throughout and was strengthened for future delight in our glorious Triune God.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Regrettably, the concept of the beatific vision has become neglected in contemporary Protestantism, but Parkison hopes to remedy this. Far from being an arcane mystical practice embraced only by the Desert Fathers and Catholic ascetics, he reminds us that the desire to “see the face of God” is central to Christianity, and explains its relevance to modern Christians. He analyzes and compares the views of many Christian thinkers including Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Anselm of Canterbury, Aquinas, Dante, Gregory Palamas, Calvin, Johann Gerhard, Francis Turretin, John Owen, and Jonathan Edwards.

Parkison gets a bit deep in the weeds at times, and while the abstruseness of the discussion never reaches the level of debating the number of angels that can fit on the head of a pin, I have to admit that old canard did cross my mind.

I’d like to simply copy Parkison’s two-page summary, but that feels inappropriate. Here’s a truncated excerpt:

“The beatific vision is the telos of humanity: the vision of God the saints will enjoy in the eschaton. The beatific vision is a vision of love, a participatory vision of God's essence, in resurrected bodies….. United to Christ, his perfect vision of God will be our perfect vision of God, for he is the author and perfector of our faith….. This vision is the full satiation of every creaturely desire and the absolute telos of the image-bearer. Every happiness that has partial fulfillment here will be realized in full in this vision, since this vision is the destination to which all natural desires lead….. This vision never moves beyond the person of Christ, because the person of Christ never ceases to be Emmanuel; all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell in him….. The beatific vision is the consummation of the believer's bond to God—who is Christ—which means it is the consummate fellowship and communion with the believer's bond to Christ—who is the Spirit. Thus, the beatific vision is a spiritual vision of divine love….. it is the culmination of every biblical hope for the Promised Land, for the new Jerusalem, for communion with God in his glory on the holy mountain, for entrance into the Edenic presence of God in the Temple and the Holy of Holies, and for the eternal rest of Sabbath.…. In this way, the beatific vision is the final and absolute enjoyment of the Trinity's beatitude, and the celebration of God's being all in all.”
[p 176-7]


Here are some other quotes I’d like to save:

“All creaturely existence is a gift, including creaturely limitations. In that blessed vision, our comprehension and vision and delight, which are all finite, will be perpetually maximized. And as our capacity for comprehension and vision expands, so will our delight. In other words, the very limitations we are tempted to bemoan create the possibility of never-ending delight, where each level of enjoyment is topped by the next— forever. This upward spiral into deeper beatific communion with the Trinity will never be exhausted-because we are finite, and the object of our delight is infinite, our blessedness will increase forever."
[p 20]


Quoting Elliot Clark:
“This is the glory that we seek: not just giving praise to God but receiving praise from God. Such honor is tangible, relatable, and desirable. But so often when we talk of glory, or hear it taught, the concept sounds impersonal, unattainable, and irrelevant. To many of us, the joys of heaven are ethereal and the glory of God esoteric. As a result, the Bible's many promises about glory feel disconnected from our greatest desires.
But listen to Lewis's logic: our innermost longings point to a world where those desires can be fulfilled. Our hunger for praise from others is a hunger satiated by God himself.”
[p 193]


"’Give me something that is relevant for my life’ is often the orienting posture toward the topic of theology. But if what we have maintained thus far is true, contemplation of God is no means to an end, but is rather the ultimate end itself. Theology is not practical in the sense that it becomes a service to some daily pursuit. Rather, for creatures who are made for God, theology is practical by definition. This is the singular telos of the human being: his delighted contemplation of God.
[p 178]

[Landon Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really, really solid work of theology. Parkison focuses on the beautific vision, the hope of every believer, the promise that in the end we will be like him because we will see him. The middle chapters are a bit dense with historical theology, but the book is wrapped in practical chapters (Parkison rejects this adjective, but I use it nonetheless). The early chapter focusing on what the Bible says about the beatific vision is balanced by the closing chapter on how the beatific vision impacts the Christian's life. In the end, Parkison is right, we need no application of the beatific vision to make it relevant. Rather, if the doctrine is true, it is the telos for which we were created.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Glen Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I leave this book like a man who has ventured in dark and dreary lands reminded that ahead is light that is inextinguishable and joy inexpressible.

[Caleb Eissler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book written in a long time that serves as a general primer for the beatific vision. Parkison covers the history, biblical foundation, and application of the doctrine. He covers many of the ancient and modern debates about the doctrine and makes a number of insightful comments. For the pastor or scholar with some theological chops, this book can be really helpful. That being said, this is not a book I would hand to a lay person. A different primer needs to be written for that. But for the primary audience Parkison was writing to, this is a helpful volume. My prayer is that it would spark more writing and reflection on such a deeply important doctrine!

[Peyton Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great "retrieval" of the beatific vision. It includes the foundational concepts behind the doctrine (such as God's own blessedness), a biblical defense, a historical survey, and theological/practical implications — not that the beatific vision needs a more "practical" reason to study, because knowing God better and becoming more like Him is our ultimate purpose. More than just a doctrinal retrieval, this book is meant to lead logically to worship through God-centered living.

Apart from 25ish pages of more "in the weeds" academic back-and-forth, this book serves as a good and detailed introduction to this doctrine for readers with some theological experience (college/seminary), especially with a Reformed Baptist lean (though that only comes up once or twice). I really enjoyed it.

[Luke Blades · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t have to read this book, but you definitely need to look up what the ‘beatific vision’ is and basically let that change your life.

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sign me up as a fan of the beatific vision! Before I had barely paid attention to the whole concept, and thought, at most, well, that’s a sweet little idea. Now Mr. Parkison has won me over.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Remember in the Psalms: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Well here the kisses are between scholarly work and devotional manna. I suppose he was aiming at scholarly, but the devotional came bursting out. How the scholarly rigor didn’t bury the moving manna is beyond me. But I’ll take it.

There were places, to be sure, where he played with the fire of scholasticism that has burned up many a good book, but somehow he darted back out into the sun quite often. The chapters in question are three and four. Here he worked through the history of how the beatific vision has developed and been viewed. He even dared enter into the debated points and with charitable grace he kept it interesting and productive to matters of faith. I was about to be perturbed when he started down the pointless path that this lined up with Reformation thinking. Isn’t being biblical enough? But I couldn’t do it. Every time I tried he said some other touching thing.

Before these chapters were ones explaining what the beatific vision even is and its biblical credibility. Let me describe it this way, this gazing upon God takes some of the things that seem most big picture to me and tied them together in a way that they should have always been. I need not rehash it. You can read it yourself. But it sure moved me.

Chapter 5 (“Retrieval for Reformation Evangelicals”) has as dull a title as possible, but it was full of life. And it grew more so as it went along. There was doctrinal profundity in spades. Its gift was tying all back to a full orbed Trinitarian theological understanding.

The final chapter takes this grand doctrine and rubs it on like healing oil all over many facets of the Christian life.

How have I never heard of Samuel Parkison? I bet I’ll be watching for his name in the future.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had rarely heard about the beatific vision until I picked up this book by Samuel Parkinson, and even though the concept was in my mind, this book opened up the gates into a beautiful doctrine full of joy and satisfaction.

Dr. Parkinson does an excellent job providing exegetical and historical work to show the progression of this doctrine over time. He critiqued many views presenting the good, the bad, and the ugly, in a way that I was able to see that this is not a new doctrine at all. If we truly want to be faithful to God’s word we need to return to this doctrine more and more especially because of its practical use which Dr. Parkinson demonstrates in his final chapter.

I came away from reading this book with so much joy at the thought of what we already are seeing by faith through Christ, but even more by what we shall see and experience fully in Christ for all eternity.

[Emily Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tend to take a while in reading + digesting theology books, but I really enjoyed this one. Upon reading this book, I wasn't quite sure how to define the theology of desiring to see God in heaven, but now I understand it as the beatific vision. Parkison's work is an excellent primer for those who are seeking the richness of the beatific vision. Some parts of this were so moving it brought a tear to my eye. Very glad to be ending out 2025 with this one.

[Conner Hinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very accessible work on the doctrine of the beatific vision. Samuel Parkison has provided a helpful overview of the biblical warrant and theological grounding for this doctrine. Additionally, Parkison casts a compelling vision for the doctrine’s devotional and doxological significance.

[Noah Lykins · Rating 4 out of 5]

181 - “Hallowed by Thy name” becomes his deep, guttural ache. With his gaze set toward heaven, he, with increasing measure, prays accordingly.

20 - It should not be a disappointment that a univocal vision of the essence of God is something we will never experience, as if we were missing out on something God would give us if he were more generous. All creaturely existence is a gift, including creaturely limitations.

70 - Man, as a finite creature, cannot have a telos that is ever actualized in a final sense, since such a state would imply that he ceases to be mutable. To be creaturely is to be finite, and to be finite is to change. If man's chief end, as a finite and temporal being, is oriented toward the infinite and inexhaustible being, his final state—the realization of his telos— is a state of perpetuity, wherein he always increasingly becomes more than what he is as he grows into "a deeper union with Christ."

79 - Anselm has already developed the meat of his ontological proof for God's existence, and yet he asks, "Have you found, O my soul, what, you were seeking?"Were his sole purpose for writing the need to flesh out this ontological proof, he could simply answer his question with "yes," in which case this short book would be even shorter…. He thus marched on, showing that his deepest and most central aim is not merely to develop a proof for God’s existence but to contemplate God in his soul.”

140 - Though they would never acknowledge their common ancestry, biblicist fundamentalism and theological liberalism share common blood. Both uncritically adopt the metaphysical assumptions of modernity. For the theological liberal, this metaphysic leads to an embrace of biblical higher criticism and a hermeneutic of suspicion.? For the fundamentalist, while a commitment to the Scriptures divine authority remains, the assumption of this same metaphysic leads to functionally the same hermeneutic, wherein any consideration of the Scriptures that fall outside of a grammatical-historical lens is strictly banished. In either case, both theological liberalism and her twin sister, biblicist fundamentalism, unceremoniously sever ties with the great tradition and the classical realist metaphysic by which it is characterized. Neither sister has the patience or interest, therefore, to consider a doctrine like the beatific vision.”

155 - Keeping the doctrine of inseparable operations in view prevents us from creating too sharp a bifurcation between conceptualizing the beatific vision as a spiritual sight of the divine essence on the one hand, and an ocular sight of Christ's human nature on the other.

171 - The infant in Bethlehem perfectly revealed the divine will as an infant.

175 - To be under the law is to not yet enjoy the beatific vision. To insist that Christ experienced this non-beatific state of being under the law is not to insist on some kind of kenotic self-emptying of his divine nature, nor is it to say that Christ's knowledge was in any way deficient or hampered by the mark of sin, but is simply to stress that Christ leads his posterity through obedience to the covenant of works to the reward of the beatific vision. We reap the benefits of obedience to the covenant of works not because we have obeyed, but because Christ has for us. United to him, his obedient righteousness (which brings the benefit of obedience-the beatific vision) is imputed to us. Christ comes to where we are to bring us to our final end in him.

179 - Prayer is thus perhaps the most basic Christian practice to orient organically around the beatific vision.
A common misconception regarding prayer is that the practice is a form of therapeutic escape from the real world. However, according to a classical realist metaphysic and a thoroughly biblical anthropology —with its corresponding teleological emphasis on the beatific vision— the practice of prayer is an exercise in reality.

185 - No gimmicks or pragmatic initiatives will do for the local congregation what a sermon reveling in the excellencies of Christ will do… If the hurch is a heaven-bound bride, the sacramental marks of her identity must be conceived as heaven-bound as well.

191 - The theological contrast between the garden in Genesis 1 and the garden’s intended culmination in the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 helpfully illustrates the point. God’s final intention was not to grant Adam the beatific vision, but rather to grant the beatific vision to Adam and his posterity—a multitude, a people.

197 - In Christ, you have died to sin and live in Christ, therefore put to death the deeds of the body and live in holiness… the believer’s own salvation has an irreducibly eschatological flavor. To be a Christian is to be bound by the Spirit, in Christ, to heaven.

198 - “sin is a temporary and unwelcome intruder to the believer… Putting what is early you and sinful in himself is no longer suicide, because that which is earthly and in himself is no longer definitional—he is new in Christ, and his newness is indelibly tied to his future of beatific bliss.”

199 - The two greatest mistakes we can make when thinking about suffering are, on the one hand, to minimize or trivialize, and, on the other hand, to catastrophize and despair… 200 The beautific vision therefore infused suffering with meaning, which makes it endurable.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An exploration of the importance of the beatific vision in scripture and church history and its contemporary significance.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (I John 3:1-3, New International Version).

As a young Christian reading through scripture, this passage stopped me in my tracks. It told me that a day was coming where I would see Christ as he is, in all his glory. What’s more, it assured me I would be like him and that this was a great motive for cleaning up my act in this life. What I caught a glimpse of in that day is the beatific vision that is the telos or end toward which our lives as followers of Jesus is directed. As a result, it gave me an intense motivation to grow in Christ-likeness. I’ve likened it to preparations for my wedding day. I wanted to look my best and be my best for the woman I was marrying! And so it is with Jesus.

In To Gaze Upon God, Samuel G. Parkison retrieves for the contemporary church a doctrine that has given comfort and joy to Christians through the ages. He begins by asking what is the beatific vision. Parkison observes that as creatures in the image of God, we exist from, through, and to him. He is our source, our life, and our end. And this end is nothing less than to “dwell in the house of the Lord” and to “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. It is this one thing for which the Psalmist asks in Psalm 27:4.

Parkison then devotes a chapter to elaborating that vision. First he considers the Old Testament theophanies and promises of the beatific vision. Then he considers a number of New Testament passages including the Transfiguration and the passage cited above. In conclusion, he argues that the desire for the beatific vision is good and godly. Not only this, it is seeing “the invisible,” connects with our faith in this life, and walks hand in hand with our transformation. Finally, we fully realize the beatific vision in the resurrection.

Then Parkison turns in two chapters to consider the “cloud of witnesses: through church history, dividing between those pre-Reformation, and those who were Reformation or post-Reformation. Gregory of Nyssa wrestles with the incomprehensibility of God and for him we ever thirst, find satiation that only feeds our thirst. Many wrestle with in what sense we “see” God, culminating in the ideas of Aquinas of not merely physical, but spiritual sight. Among the reformers, he considers Calvin, the Lutheran Gerhard, Turretin, Owen, and Edwards. While each of those considered offer rich nuances and some critical differences on the doctrine of the beatific vision, Parkison traces a continuity throughout church history in this doctrine.

Some contemporary commentators note a fault line between Aquinas and Owen. Aquinas focuses on knowing the essence of God, Owen on the vision of God in Christ. However, Parkison seeks to reconcile the two through the doctrine of inseparable operations. He writes,

“Therefore, it seems best to conceptualize the beatific vision as a vision of the divine essence in the person and work of Christ, the incarnate Son, by the illuminating and gracious operating principle of the Spirit as the eternal divine subsistence of the Father and Son’s love. The beatific vision, in other words, is made possible by the inseparable operations of the Trinity, and is therefore a truly trinitarian vision. We shall behold the glory of God in his essence, and we shall behold this glory in the face of Jesus Christ by the unveiling and illumining ministry of the Holy Spirit”(p. 156)

Parkison also offers his own take on a number of the questions explored in his historical survey.

All of this is toward an evangelical retrieval of the doctrine of the beatific vision. In a concluding chapter, Parkison considers the implication of the beatific vision for prayer, worship, missions, sin and sanctification, suffering, and our communion with one another. He longs to enliven Christians in all of life by this vision. In a postscript, he argues that the beatific vision tells a better story in the context of global Christianity.

I found this work both devotionally and theologically rich. For evangelicalism that is so earthly minded that it is no heavenly (or earthly) good, it offers a vital corrective. I do believe our fascination with political power reflects the paucity of our vision of Jesus. Likewise for our fascination with health and prosperity gospels. We exist to gaze upon God, and to reflect what we see in the world. Now we do so but dimly, but one day, face to face, in the new creation. We all live toward some vision. Is it toward the beatific vision? This book lifts our eyes toward our beautiful Lord.

_____________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Allen Mandap · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is worshipful and pastoral, with profound scholarship. Reading it will deepen your excitement to gaze upon God. I found the opening and closing sections particularly impactful. Additionally, Parkison has diligently engaged with some of history’s great figures. Well done.

[Phil Cotnoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.667 stars.
This book is a great achievement. It succeeds in its mission, which is to retrieve the doctrine of the beatific vision for evangelicals, and in so doing, reintroducing new generations of Protestants to the riches of their own tradition. The introduction and opening chapters do a great job situating the modern reader in terms of where we are in late modernity and how that relates to the metaphysical foundations that undergirded earlier eras of Christian thought. The book self-consciously situates itself within the 'Great Tradition' and calls evangelicals back to classical Trinitarian theism from the barren wilds of modernist biblicism.

Having been thus oriented, Parkison takes the reader through a number of major figures from the early church, the middle ages, and the Reformation, and explores how the church's view of the beatific vision has evolved over the centuries. The author then attempts to synthesize the best of these views into a coherent whole that is digestible for modern readers. His distinctive contribution seems to be a more thoroughly trinitarian formulation of the beatific vision, drawing on and continuing the work of Protestant giants such as John Owen and Jonathan Edwards.

One of the book's strengths is the affective tone, the marriage of academic and spiritual concerns. In other words, the book is edifying and, when rightly read, is sure to bring the reader to worship. That being said, it is still quite dense, and some of the middle chapters felt like a bit of a slog at times. Perseverance, however, is richly rewarded. I recommend it most heartily.

[Robert Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is among the top 10 books on theology I've read, and might compete for top five.

What is the beatific vision? Among modern Protestants, this central Christian hope has been too long neglected. But if you're a pastor who is unfamiliar with the beatific vision, skeptical about it, or desiring a better grasp of it, this book can help to remedy that.

The whole book is strong - clearly and forcefully articulated, but with charity toward opponents . It will be difficult for those who voices who have been lately resisting this doctrine to interact with Parkison's chapter on the biblical support for the beatific vision, especially, without admitting they've missed something.

Then on top of this he shows that this doctrine has gone essentially undisputed from Augustine to Edwards (and before and after) in the Augustinian-Reformed tradition. Brothers who don't accept this doctrine - may I plead with you to reconsider and read this book? The blessed, God-centered hope of the beatific vision is both required by Scripture and warms the soul. Take up, read, and delight in the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ which you shall gaze upon forever.

[Braxton Bragg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book retrieves the doctrine of the ‘Beatific Vision’ (meaning blessed or happy sight) which is much needed in our day. What makes heaven truly heaven? It’s not primarily a new resurrected earth with resurrected bodies, reuniting with deceased loved ones and Christian friends, the absence of pain and sin, though all those things are true and important hopes for the life to come. Rather, the Christian’s primary hope for the life to come is that we will see God. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This is just one example of the Beatific Vision in Scripture with many other passages discussed in this book (Exodus 24, 33; Isaiah 6, 24-27; Matthew 5:8; 1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4; etc).

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand a doctrine that is critically important for the Christians understanding of our future hope of glory. Reading this book was a worshipful experience and it has motivated me to further explore the doctrine of the Beatific Vision.

[Nate Cure · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting the author in the Middle East this year and hearing him preach at a conference. His preaching made me long to move "further up and further in", and I promptly ordered the book. It did not disappoint.

This is the best theology book I've read in the last 2 (maybe 3) years.

It is sad reality how little of Christianity, and even my "tribe" of Reformed Evangelicalism, has to do with God Himself. This book is a course corrective for a new generation of theologian, pastors, and laity. This would be a great book to read for first year theology students to help them set their compass on the correct star before delving into the depths of Scripture and History.

This book is Biblical, Historical, Theological, and it as the author defends in the final chapter, immensely practical. What could be more practical than to gaze upon God?

Take up and read!

[Trevor]

Made it through 3.5 chapters before I skipped to the last one, where I was greeted by a heck of a prophetic opening:

ONE MAY BE TEMPTED TO identify this final chapter on the beatific vision and the Christian life as the practical chapter, or the useful chapter, or—God forbid—the relevant chapter. “Here,” one might assume, “the long-winded author finally brings the ‘so what’ of all this speculative theologizing.”

Prophetic in the sense that yes I did skip ahead to get to the “useful” chapter. What Parkison mispredicted, however, was my motive. It’s not that I thought the rest of his book was useless, it’s that I couldn’t understand it. Still, someone must have soaked through, because I can’t stop thinking about this doctrine that I otherwise would not have encountered in my Protestant circles.

[Doug White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be returning to the final chapter many times - for my on walk and as I walk with others - so very thankful for Sam and the gift that God has given him to teach the critical doctrines.

His chapter “The Beatific Vision and the Christian Life” had so many great moments of encouragement and reflection for me - below is just one

As a motivation, the beatific vision keeps them from the scandal of satisfying themselves with sinful water from muddy cisterns—they are motivated to choose the better portion of the fountain of living waters in the beatific vision (cf. Jer 2:12-13). With their hearts set in their true homeland, they resist the temptation of befriending the world, despising its transient promises and treasuring instead the permanence of beatifical fellowship (cf. 1 Jn 2:15-17).

[Ronni Kurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on a beautiful doctrine. Hard to put into words the significance of the beatific vision from a theological or historical perspective. I'm quite glad to see a resurgence in literature about this great doctrine and this newest addition will be one of my go-to resources on the subject. I am obviously biased towards both Sam's position and Sam as a person, but I find this to be simply an excellent volume. Was glad to read a pre-pub version and would recommend others to pick it up as soon as it comes out.

[Joshua Bremerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. This book excellently weaves together biblical exegesis, historical analysis, and doxology. This book encouraged my desire to behold Christ with the eyes of faith to both enrich my hopes for the day I will behold him with true vision and to enliven my experience of that day itself. If you have ever been captivated by the idea of "seeing and savoring Christ," this book is for you, even with the at times drawn out historical elements (which, if you push through, make it all the richer!).